Spain police arrest Basque political leaders

[JURIST] Spanish police arrested over 20 senior members of the Batasuna party [BBC profile] Thursday on orders from anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon. The reasons for their arrests have not been released, but many believe the arrests were politically motivated. The Batasuna party is alleged to be a front for the illegal Basque separatist militant group ETA [BBC backgrounder], which has been blamed for more than 800 deaths in bombings and attacks since the 1960s. Radical Basque nationalists Friday called for protests [Reuters report] of the arrests.

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